I really, really loved this weekend

Our Memorial Day weekend was absolutely wonderful.  It was busy and I'm pretty darn tied, but I would do every minute (almost) of it over again. 

 Friday I was off work at Noon.  I came home to grab a quick lunch, then headed north.  I picked up my Mom, and then we drove to my grandparents' home town (paternal) to put flowers on the graves.  A cold front had come through and it was COLD.  We stopped to see Grandma (I'll write a separate post about her), then I dropped Mom off and headed home.  I was home for about two hours before we were out the door again at 8:30 for a VERY late dinner.  Our best friends' daughter (Catherine's best friend) was graduating and we had agreed to meet for dinner after the ceremony since we couldn't attend.  As we sat down, I realized that their four kids and our two kids were all sitting in a line and I whipped out the camera.  Photo op!  Having them all together like that happens almost never, and will be even more rare since their oldest just graduated from college and is moving to California.  We had a lovely evening.  Catherine went with their family to their house to stay over and continue celebrating with her friend.

Saturday I had to swing by school to meet a parent volunteer, and then I ran a couple of errands.  Thomas had to work, but early afternoon Andrew and I headed to our best friends to help them get ready for their graduation party.  It was such a very fun evening.  We got to see so many other friends, and the kids got to see so many other kids they grew up with.  More photos were taken.  My heart was so incredibly full.  Catherine stayed over again with her friend, and it was nearly 1AM before we made it home.

Yesterday we were up early enough to take Thomas back to our friends' house so he could join all the girls for an amusement park trip.  Early afternoon I headed north to attend a cousin's graduation party, but left early enough that I could spend an hour with my grandmother first.  I then made a quick trip to visit the graves of my dad, grandmother, aunt Cathy, and both grandfathers.  When I arrived at the graduation party, I realized that my cousins from Massachusetts had come in for the graduation.  It was so awesome to get to visit with them and all of the family that was there.  I ended up staying longer than I had anticipated, and it was such a wonderful evening.  Upon arriving back in town I went straight to some friends who were having a cook out (which is why Andrew hadn't joined me).  We got home a little after 10, and the kids arrived home shortly after.  They had an absolute blast spending the day with their friends.

This morning Andrew ran a few errands, and I made another trip north for yet another graduation party.  I only made a quick appearance, then I went and moved some furniture my grandmother had decided she wanted.  I then spent a little time rearranging her new place so that things were where she wanted.  I can't always be a lot of help, so I want to make sure I take care of what I know I can take care of.  Thomas spend the afternoon visiting a friend, and Andrew was putting together his new grill.  Finally this evening, we had a nice dinner grilled by Andrew, and then spent the evening sharing some TV shows.

I really, really appreciate having this time together.  We are so, so blessed to have this time together.  It was crazy busy, but I had a blast.

We made it

EDIT:  I wrote this two days ago, but forgot to hit publish...indicative of how crazy life has been!

We made it through this school year.  It was a year unlike any other, although the end of beginning to show a return to normalcy.  Right now, I'm watching graduation.  It is being held on the football field with limited guests.  I'm glad for all of them that they get to have this, and I'm very grateful the weather cooperated for them.

The last couple of weeks have been so rough for me.  I'm going to sound whiny and spoiled here, but never in my life as a mother have I had to work for seven consecutive weeks without a day off, and it occurred while Andrew was coaching baseball and Thomas was playing tennis.  It was also while things were exploding with my grandmother, so there was just really a LOT going on in life.

Not only was our family adjusting to me being full time, but of course, we have been in the middle of a pandemic!  For Andrew and Thomas, that meant school online, then school in-person, then online, and never on Wednesday (unless it was finals week), and snow days may not really be snow days, and teaching to students at home even when school is in-person.  Nothing about it was normal or easy.  For Catherine it meant almost no in-person classes, and as a beginning college student, that meant virtually no socializing. This year was just tough, and not just for our family, but for everyone.

It seems so hard to believe that our "baby" is going to be a senior.  Oh my goodness, I have no idea how we got here so fast.  That is next year though, and for now I'm just grateful that our family successfully made it through this year!

Our weekend was more fun than I thought it would be

I was so tired on Saturday, and never took the time for a nap.  We had plans to travel back to our former town and see our best friends' daughter (who is also our daughter's best friend) perform in her musical.  Since she is a senior and we couldn't do many of the normal supportive things we would've done, we didn't want to miss this.  We had been told the night before that running time was about four hours.  Ugh!  I was less than enthused, but I am so very glad that we went.  It was so entertaining, and we really had a good time.  It was well after Midnight before we got home though, and I was hungry so we finally made it to bed after a snack.

Yesterday was the day the furniture was being moved into her assisted living apartment.  We were able to sleep in, but left mid-morning to head north.  We loaded my mom's vehicle and our vehicle, then unloaded them when we arrived at the new place.  I began unloading and arranging dishes, and then once the furniture arrived we began putting away other things.  I have to say, my kids were amazing.  Catherine especially took over with the drawers and other unpacking in order to get things done.  Thomas handled technical issues.  I was so grateful for their help.

We had promised the kids we were would eat at our favorite restaurant in Dayton.  Pub fries.  Oh my goodness, there is absolutely nothing like them.  We enjoyed sitting around the table and laughing with each other.  I am so very aware that none of this is guaranteed beyond this month or even this week.  Catherine could choose to go back to her apartment at any time.  I am so grateful that we have these moments.

In spite of being exhausted, I couldn't sleep last night.  I think part of it is the excitement of the end of the school year which is this week.  I am so, so grateful for a little more free time!

Coffee. Must have coffee.

 It's been a tremendously long week.  Wednesday was an especially long day with working late and then church council in the evening.  Thursday was required evening work, as was yesterday.  I finally got off work last night at 9:00.  Since I hadn't seen my family most of the week, I allowed myself to stay up until Catherine got home from work at 11:30.  Finally made it bed about Midnight, and since Thomas had to be at work by 8:00 this morning, it meant being up by 7.  Coffee.  Must have coffee!

A month ago it was snowing

Yesterday was hot, and today was even hotter.  I was concerned about working in my un-air-conditioned office with very little breeze.  Yesterday was unpleasant, and I was concerned that today would be unbearable.  I dressed as comfortably as I could, and I made arrangements for Andrew to come to the office after work to put in the office's window a/c.  I was pleasantly surprised when I returned from taking lunch at home and the unit was already in.  Thank goodness!  It made the afternoon so much more pleasant!

Ironically, a month ago today we had a measurable snow fall!  Thomas's tennis match was cancelled, and I remember even having trouble driving at one point.  So much for spring this year I guess!

So many memories

Today, I had the afternoon off, so Catherine and I made a trip north to my grandmother's house.  My aunt was there, and we spent a few hours going through Grandma's things.  I must say, Grandma really did a great job of not hoarding and made sure she didn't have a bunch of crap that the rest of the family has to go through.  We went through all of her cupboards and cabinets.  In her spare bedroom, I found so many things that I didn't even know Grandma had.  There were four tubs of pictures and other items, like the graduation program for both her and my grandpa.  There was even a poem in there handwritten by my great-grandmother.  Several of the gifts I had given her over the years were marked with my name, and I brought them home.

In addition, there were three envelopes with the names of my sister, my father, and me.  I left my sister's there so she could decide if she wanted them scanned.  When I got home, I decided to take a few minutes and look at my envelope.  There were so many newspaper clippings, although I probably had many of them myself as I was quite a clipping collector.  There were letters I had written to her in college and thank-you's I had written to her over many different years.  The thing I was most unprepared for was the pictures and other little things I had done or written when I was a kid.  We are talking things that are 35 or 40 years old, and my grandmother had enjoyed them enough that she kept them.

There was also a shadow box that my grandmother had made that was full of things from an office fire that my grandfather had experienced in 1961.  She had noticed that Thomas had always enjoyed looking at it when he was there, so she wanted him to have it.  As my sentimental child, I knew he would love it.  I was right, and his face absolutely lit up when I showed it to him.

It's been a really rough couple of days, and I've lost my battle against tears more than once.  At the same time, I am so incredibly grateful for the memories.  My grandmother has been a huge part of my life, and I'm so grateful for that.  She's always been an amazing woman, and it breaks my heart that we have entered this phase of her life.

Getting towards the end

This is the last full week of school for any of us.  For the rest of the family, it is a fairly uneventful week.  For me, I have to work extra hours for some ceremonies, so it's going to be particularly busy.  Tomorrow afternoon I am off so that I don't go over 40 hours this week.  I'll be spending the afternoon at my grandmother's house, along with Catherine and my aunt, to begin going through her things.  It is so hard to believe that three weeks ago everything was fine, and now she doesn't even have the strength to get out of bed.  We are hoping to get her moved into assisted living sooner rather than later.  We still have about eight weeks until we have to completely vacate her house at the retirement community, so I'm grateful for that.  And in true Grandma form, she absolutely never wanted to be a burden, and made a concerted effort not to hoard things.  She's truly just an amazing woman.  I hate that she is experiencing physical suffering.

One item that Andrew had always wanted was her Admiral console stereo.  It's something!  I don't really have any specific memories from my childhood related to the stereo, but it was definitely a part of her house at the retirement community.  Everyone in the family agreed that we should have it, so it came home with us today.  We also brought back some records that Grandma had to add to those we have here.  This evening we found a home for it, and as soon as we had it in place and plugged in, Andrew played a Sinatra record.  His parents also had a stereo like this when he was a kid, and he's enjoying reliving the memories.  To be honest, the whole thing makes me very emotional, but I'm grateful we've been able to bring this piece into our home.

Not sure I'm really ready to deal with this week, but ready or not, here it comes!